Thursday, May 24, 2012

Wales. Places to go, places to stay

We spent three wonderful days in the foothills of Snowdonia and incredibly for most of the time the sun was shining.

Where we went:
Our first stop was Llanberis - an old mining town in Snowdonia National Park

The highlight was a short trip on a little blue steam train

Oh and the milkshakes.

We went to the wonderful Greenwood Park

Met some lovely local chaps in the pub (but failed to get their pics)

Visited the amazing Caernaforn Castle

And had a quick pit stop here

(Imagine trying to tell the taxi driver where you live after a night out...)

Where we stayed:
Stena Line has a selection of recommended hotels that you can book into when you are planning your trip. We were lucky enough to be put up in the gorgeous Seoint Manor one of the Handpicked Hotels group.

My mind boggles as to how this is only a 3 star hotel. From the moment our car pulled up outside the main door we were taken care of brilliantly.

Dominic - who looked after us during our stay - was a gift from the hotel Gods. Nothing was too much trouble and everything was done with a professionalism and friendliness that I am yet to experience in places that charge three times the amount of Seoint Manor. If you could bottle him and sell him to every hotel in the land the tourist industry would be a very happy place.

The hotel itself was beautiful - a mix of modern rooms and antique furniture, an amazing swimming pool, and beautiful country walks just outside the door - it was hard to fault.

We had celebratory beers (at having survived the jounrney)

Fabulous food

And generally enjoyed the opulence

There may also have been some jumping on beds, but don't tell Dominic

Our beautiful family room

And best of all we actually managed to tire them out. Yesssss!

Thanks to Penny and Gemma for the wonderful suggestions of places to visit and Stena Line for giving us the opportunity to visit them. Stena Line provided all travel and accomodation costs but all creative content and views are my own.